The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1887-01-06

is'exceIlently surfaced and, except for
the freshness Of the ties and spikes, i
works as though it had been built for
years. Another section will be com
pleted by the lst Of April, 1887, which |
will make Il total Of l05 miles equip
ped and in operation.
The Massachusetts, and Southern
Construction Company which is build |
ing this road, has pursued financial
policy unparalleled in,the history of
such undertakings, for it has carried
on its work without calling upon the
public for assistance. Every dollar it
has expended has been furnished by
inside parties This unusual policy
has attracted the attention OF capital
lists Agents of several foreign syndi-
Gates have been obtaining information
about the resources Of the country the
road Is to traverse, preliminary TO ne
gotiations for securing the whole is
sue Of the company's bonds
have no knowledge of the inten-
tions of the Massachusetts and South
ern Construction Company, but | am
certain that no enterprise was ever
pushed forward more energetically or
Independently or with so little news.
paper flourish. The knowledge of the
railroad they are building has gone
abroad and Is attracting investors to
the country, | have met numbers OF
northern capitalists, and have heard
OF others who have hurried to the coal
and iron counties to secure mineral
properties before prices go up because
of the progress Of the graders. The
Massachusetts, and Southern Con-
struction Company has recently pur-
chased, for something more than a
million dollarr, the Chatteroi railroad
This road was built several years ago
, from Ashland, KY southwark thro
, the Big Sandy valley into the coal
fields BY this purchase the construc-
ton company has secured a fine ter
minal site, has reduced by at least a
year the time for the completson Of its
enterprise, and has come into posses
sion of property that is already max
ing handsome earnings, and that will,
when ten mile extension is complet-
ed receive enormous additions to its
4 business.
The Charleston, Cincinnati & Chi
cago Railroad has a business awaiting
its completion that win amount to
more than any southern railroad has
ever enjoyed and as each section is
, finished its earnings from the local
: freight will cover its proportion OF all
expenses and charges OF every kind,
, besides adding largely to the business
and earnings of the remainder of the
line. 1t will traverse a country rich
in coal, iron ores, marble, kaolin, soap
. stone, mica, asbestos and other miner
ais, and crowned with the finest for
ests of hard woods in the L. S. Cox
ing, steam and camel Goals abound in
Virginia and Kentucky, which will be
j, in request from numberless customers
i south as well as north of the mines.
When once built. this road can new
er have a rival, for, in the country
through which it is to pass, nature has
left room fer but one railroad. Ash
- land will be but l45 miles from Gin.
- cinnati when the South Shore road oi
i the Huntington system is completed
. 1t is the centre of the Hanging Rock
iron district, whose blast furnaces will
. consume annually nearly two million
4 tons OF the Bessemer ore of North Car.
olina, all OF which must be carried 25t
miles over this road This is equiva.
u lent to a freight business Of more thar
100000 a year for the single item o
- iron ore Add to this coal, marble
II and timber freights, and the total earn
ings OF the two-track road that will bt
! needed to do the business between tn,
- iron mines and Ashland may be i'm
5, agined. Immense as will be the traffi,
:. between the ore beds Of Mitchell ant
= the blast furnaces Of Hanging Rock
:, it will be but part OF the great volum
i, flowing over this line between tn
Ohio river and Charleston. The shir
i. ments northward Of sugar, molasses
!, rice, tobacco, cotton and naval stores
= and the hundreds Of thousands Of ton
Of fertilizers, will aggregate a tonnage
J. filling trains daily, which will returi
4 laden with breadstuifs, hog product
j. and ihe long list OF manufacture,
goods the south Atlantic States buy il
!, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinos shoul
10 have said, in its proper connection
that South Carolina will be a larg
= coal customer Of this road At Black
- station, on the Atlantic & Chariot
= air line,(and the point at which tina
4 road and the O., c. & c. intersec) al
- the old Cherokee furnaces on Broa
q river, in which immense quantities {
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